Word of the Week: slon – 'elephant'

Experts have argued over the exact origins of Czech’s distinctive word for ‘elephant’. It shares this word with other Slavic languages (for example, Polish słoń, Russian слон), but where Slavic as a whole got it from is a linguistic puzzle.

The prevailing theory seems to be that Slavic adopted it from one of a group of languages known as the Turkic family. Their word was something like *arsïlan, and this became Slavic *slonъ.

The funny thing is, that ancient Turkic word didn’t refer to elephants, but rather to lions. In the Turkish language today, aslan means ‘lion’, and is the origin of the name of the character in the Narnia books. If Czech slon does indeed have this Turkic origin, then it seems that, at some point, early Slavs got two exotic animals mixed up.

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Příspěvek sdílený Radio Prague International (@radio_prague)